Strong Sales of PlayStation 4, Xbox One Drive Videogame Industry in March

PS4 has sold 7 million units since launch; Electronic Arts' 'Titanfall' was the month's bestselling game

Strong demand for Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles thrust the videogame industry into positive territory in March.

Overall sales for the games biz came in at $1 billion, up 3% over last year, according to NPD Group.

Electronic Arts’ “Titanfall” (see above) was the bestselling game in March. After one month of sales, it is currently the second-highest selling game for the Xbox One. NPD does not disclose unit sales for games.

Broken out, hardware generated $395 million, up 78%, offsetting a 27% decline in new game sales of $406 million. Accessories brought in $224 million, a gain of 4%.

When comparing the first five months of sales for the Xbox One and PS4 to their predecessors’ first five months, total Xbox One and PS4 sales are up close to 60%, NPD said.

NPD measures new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50% of the total consumer spend on games.

Paid downloads on digital platforms, microtransactions, subscriptions, the sale of mobile apps and spending on social network games is estimated to have generated another $532 million.

“PS4 and Xbox One continue to see success, with cumulative sales of the two consoles through the first five months currently totaling more than double that of their predecessors, the PS3 and Xbox 360,” according to Liam Callahan, a video game analyst at NPD.

The PS4 led hardware sales for the third month in a row in March. Sony announced Thursday that it has sold 7 million units of its PS4.